The films of Paul Mazursky

Paul Mazursky

Five-time Academy Award-nominee Paul Mazursky,
an innovative and versatile director behind such films as "Next Stop,
Greenwich Village," "An Unmarried Woman," "Moscow on the
Hudson," and "Down and Out in Beverly Hills," died on Monday,
July 1, 2014, at age 84.

The writer-director-producer's films (in which he frequently appeared) were celebrated
for their absurdist takes on contemporary social mores.

"I know there are some wonderful filmmakers with really tragic views of
life," Mazursky once told The Atlantic magazine. "But for me
absurdity is just around the corner. I see it all the time."

Credit: 20th Century Fox

"Fear and Desire"

Born
Irwin Mazursky in Brooklyn 1930, he changed his named to Paul upon graduating
high school. His initial dream was to be actor, and while attending college he auditioned
for director Stanley Kubrick's first fiction film, "Fear and Desire"
(1953). He won the role of Sidney (left), a soldier who goes crazy after killing a girl held prisoner.

The
disappointing reviews he received led Mazursky to redouble his acting studies. He appeared in the film "the Blackboard Jungle," as
well as such TV shows as "The Untouchables," "The
Rifleman" and "Twilight Zone," but he eventually focused his career on writing and directing.

"Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice"

Mazursky's first film as director,
which he also co-wrote, was a critical and box office hit. It received four
Oscar nominations, including one for Mazursky for Best Original Screenplay, and
acting nods for Cannon and Gould.

Mazursky later adapted the film into a short-lived 1973 TV series.

Credit: Columbia Pictures

"Alex in Wonderland"

For Mazursky's second film following his smash
debut, he co-wrote and directed the Fellini-esque "Alex in
Wonderland" (1970), which starred Donald Sutherland as a director struggling
to come up with a follow-up film after a smash debut. Ellen Burstyn co-starred.

Credit: MGM

"Blume in Love"

"Blume in Love" (1973) starred George
Segal as a man trying to win back the wife who divorced him. Susan Anspach and
Kris Kristofferson played the other points of the romantic triangle.

Credit: Warner Brothers

"Harry and Tonto"

Art Carney won an Oscar for Best Actor for "Harry and Tonto"
(1974), as an elderly New Yorker who goes on a cross-country road trip with his
cat, Tonto.

Credit: 20th Century Fox

"Next Stop, Greenwich Village"

Christopher Walken (right) was one member of a winning
ensemble cast in "Next Stop, Greenwich Village" (1976), Paul
Mazursky's semi-autobiographical tale of his early years pursuing acting in New
York City. Also featured in the cast were Lenny Baker and Shelly Winters (both
Golden Globe nominees), Ellen Greene, Lois Smith and Jeff Goldblum.

Credit: 20th Century Fox

"An Unmarried Woman"

"An Unmarried Woman" (1978) starred
Jill Clayburgh as a Manhattanite who struggles with life and romance after her
husband leaves her for a younger woman. Paul Mazursky (pictured center, with
Alan Bates and Clayburgh) earned Best Picture and Best Screenplay Oscar
nominations. Clayburgh also received Oscar, Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations,
and won the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival for her
searing performance.

Credit: 20th Century Fox

"Willie & Phil"

Inspired by Francois Truffaut's "Jules and Jim," Paul
Mazursky's "Willie & Phil" (1980) starred Margot Kidder as a
young New Yorker who becomes the object of affection for two best friends (Ray Sharkey
and Michael Ontkean) who happen also to be fans of "Jules and Jim."

Credit: 20th Century Fox

"Tempest"

"Tempest"
(1982), loosely based on Shakespeare's play, starred John Cassavetes, Gena
Rowlands and Molly Ringwald, in the story of a New York architect whose
mid-life crisis leads him, his mistress and teenage daughter to a remote Greek
Island. Also starring were Susan Sarandon and Raul Julia.

Credit: Columbia Pictures

"Tempest"

Raul Julia and Molly Ringwald in Paul Mazursky's "Tempest."

Credit: Columbia Pictures

"Moscow on the Hudson"

Robin Williams played a Russian musician who, while on tour
in New York City, defects in the middle of
Bloomingdale's, in Paul Mazursky's comedy, "Moscow on the Hudson"
(1984).

Credit: Columbia Pictures

"Moscow on the Hudson"

Robin Williams in Paul Mazursky's "Moscow on the Hudson"

Credit: Columbia Pictures

"Down and Out in Beverly Hills"

Based on Jean Renoir's great 1932 comedy "Boudu Saved
From Drowning," about a bum who turns upside-down the bourgeois family
that takes him in, "Down and Out in Beverly Hills" (1986) starred
Nick Nolte (left, with Mike), as a homeless man who is rescued from a Beverly
Hills family's swimming pool, only to turn their serene-on-the-surface life
asunder. The film, which co-starred Bette Midler and Richard Dreyfuss, was a critical and audience hit. The characters' sexual
peccadilloes earned the Disney Studios its first R-Rating, for its
newly-launched Touchstone label.

Credit: Touchstone

"Moon Over Parador"

In "Moon Over Parador" (1988), Richard Dreyfuss played an actor who takes on the difficult role of impersonating the deceased dictator of a South American country. Raul Julia and Sonia Braga costarred.

Credit: Universal Pictures

"Enemies: A Love Story"

Based on a novel by Isaac Bashevis Singer, "Enemies: A
Love Story" (1989) starred Ron Silver as a Holocaust survivor in New York City
who must juggle his new wife, mistress (Lena Olin, left), and his first wife
(Angelica Huston), whom he believed had perished during the war.

Mazursky shared a Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar
nomination, while both Olin and Huston were nominated for Best Supporting Actress.

Credit: 20th Century Fox

"Scenes From a Mall"

Making
a rare appearance in a film which he did not direct, Woody Allen co-starred with
Bette Midler in Paul Mazursky's "Scenes From a Mall" (1991), in which
a bickering couple unload their marital infidelities while shopping.

Credit: Touchstone

"The Pickle"

Danny
Aiello starred as a desperate director seeking a career revival by taking on a ridiculous-sounding
studio project - a science fiction love story featuring a spaceship in the form
of a giant pickle - in "The Pickle" (1993).

Credit: Columbia Pictures

"Faithful"

Paul
Mazursky directed the film version of Chazz Palminteri's stage play,
"Faithful" (1996). It starred Palminteri as a hit man hired by Ryan O'Neal
to murder his wife (Cher).

"Winchell"

Mazursky's later directorial credits included the TV movie "Coast
to Coast" (starring Richard Dreyfuss), and the documentary
"Yippee."

Credit: HBO

"Big Shot's Funeral (Da Wan)"

Paul
Mazursky (right) appeared as a studio executive in the Chinese comedy "Big
Shot's Funeral (Da Wan)" (2001), starring Donald Sutherland as an American
director in China to remake "The Last Emperor."

Mazurksy's other
turns as an actor included the TV series "The
Sopranos," ''Curb Your Enthusiasm" and "Once and Again,"
and the films "Punchline," "Carlito's Way," "Crazy in
Alabama," "Antz," and "Why Do Fools Fall in Love."